NEENAH —
Wisconsin employees of Kimberly-Clark are hoping their jobs will be
spared in the paper giant’s latest round of layoffs, which include
5,500 workers.

The consumer
products company, which produces Huggies and Kleenex, is cutting up
to 13 percent of its global workforce in an attempt to lower costs,
Wisconsin Public Radio reported. The company plans to close or sell
about 10 manufacturing plants and expand production at other
facilities. While the company’s revenue increased slightly in 2017,
its operational profits decreased. The company predicts saving $500
million to $550 million by the end of 2021 with the cuts. The
company can’t yet provide details about where jobs and facilities
will be cut, said CEO Tom Falk.

‘‘(The cuts
will) broadly impact all of the company’s business segments and
organizations in each major geography,’’ the company said in a
statement.

Changes to
demographic needs are making the business environment more
challenging, Falk said.

‘‘Certainly in
2017, we had some factors like the birth rate in the U.S. and Korea
being more negative than expected,’’ Falk said. ‘‘You can’t
encourage moms to use more diapers in a developed market when the
babies aren’t being born in those markets.’’

The company’s
headquarters is in Dallas, but it was founded in Neenah.

It employs about
3,400 employees at five facilities in the Fox Cities.

Appleton Coated,
US Paper Converters and Appvion are among several other
paper-related businesses that have recently announced cuts and
closures in northeast Wisconsin, said Outagamie County Executive Tom
Nelson.